


Asleep

by AuspiciousAutumn



Category: B.A.P, VIXX, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Gen, Ghost Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kidnapping, Kind of a murder mystery but kind of not, Namjoon misses Jin, Not AU but kind of is because Jin is a ghost, Yongguk and Hakyeon can see ghosts, Youngjae and Jaehwan are sad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-14
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-04 16:02:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13368213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuspiciousAutumn/pseuds/AuspiciousAutumn
Summary: While out on an errand one night, Yongguk finds the ghost of Seokjin outside of a convenience store with no memory of how he died.





	1. Jin?

**Chapter 1: Jin?  
**

 

Yongguk ran through the cold rain cursing himself for forgetting to bring his umbrella. If it weren't for the fact that he loved his members so dearly, he wouldn't be out in this weather.

 

“Youngjae needs you to do this. Youngjae needs you to do this.” Yongguk chanted under his breath as he spotted the convenience store in distance. Almost no one was on the street anymore, so he didn't have to worry about knocking somebody over in his haste to get back to the dorm.

 

The glow of the fluorescent lights inside the store were like a beacon of hope in the dark night to the tall idol. He noticed there was someone curled up in front of the building who was crying. Under better circumstances, he would have stopped to comfort them, but as he needed to finish his errand quickly, he ran past the person while feeling apologetic to them.

 

The rapper wiped his feet then entered the store, instantly feeling the heating system drying him off. He first went and picked up Youngjae's favorite snacks, then grabbed tissues and enough drinks for the whole band. As he was being rung up, he looked up through the glass to see the person who had been crouched outside was standing up. His eyes widened and he gasped when he recognized the man.

 

Grabbing his purchases and his card back, and saying thank you to the cashier, Yongguk ran outside after the person. “Jin-ssi! Kim Seokjin!”

 

The figure turned around and that was when B.A.P's leader realized he wasn't looking at Jin from BTS. He was looking at the _ghost_ of Jin from BTS.

 

Even though he was a ghost, Jin looked like he was in terrible shape. There were bruises on his face and around his neck. His hair was a mess and his eyes were full of sorrow. He was wearing a white shirt and dark jeans, which showed that his arms were also badly bruised. His nails were chipped and his posture was slouched in defeat. No idol would be purposefully seen like that (unless they were a major character in a drama but there were no cameras around), so Yongguk knew something bad had happened to the other man.

 

“Jin-ssi, what happened to you?”

 

Jin took slow steps to Yongguk. “I-I don't know. I just woke up and I have no idea how I got here.”

 

The rapper silently debated whether or not it would be a good thing to tell the other man that he was dead, but the battered idol beat him to the punch. “Yongguk-ssi, have you always been able to see dead people like me?”

 

Yongguk nodded slowly. “I've been able to see ghosts since I was a kid. My brother can see them too.”

 

Jin tried to grab his wrist, but his hand went through. “You shouldn't be standing around in the rain, you'll get sick.” The former idol seemed to be distressed about Yongguk's health, so he moved under a sheltered bus stop.

 

“Do you know how long you've—right, you said you don't know. Um...oh, do you know if anyone—wait, damn it, you don't know that either. Ugh, sorry. I'm trying to think of a way to figure this out.”

 

The ghost sat down on the bench. “I'm just grateful you can see me. I was scared I'd be wandering alone for eternity.”

 

Yongguk felt pity for the deceased idol. He never had an opportunity to talk to the man one-on-one like this, as the rapper was generally a quiet man who didn't socialize outside of his group very much, but he still wanted to do something to help the former visual. And by the looks of him, he had only died recently and was probably going through a hard time.

 

“What day is it?”

 

The leader was jolted from his thoughts by the former visual. “What?”

 

“What day is it?” Jin asked, while looking at his hands in his lap. “I mean, I last remember it being Thursday. How...how long have I been gone?”

 

“It's Saturday night.”

 

A look of sorrow came over the smaller idol's face. “Has my death been reported yet? Like, do my members know?”

 

The taller man shook his head. “No, I didn't know you were gone until I ran into you. I'm sure if someone knew, it would have been all over the news by now.”

 

Jin put his head in his hands and started to cry. “W-What if nobody has any idea w-where I am? W-what i-if the members are worried about me? W-what's g-going to happen to them? My f-family?”

 

Yongguk wanted to pat the sorrowful spirit's shoulder, but realized his hand would probably go through and cause more grief. His phone vibrated in his pocket. The rapper felt a chill run through his body when he saw texts from Himchan wondering where he was.

 

“Shit.”

 

Jin looked up at him with watery eyes. “What's wrong?”

 

Yongguk put his phone away and stood up. “My members are worried about me. I was just supposed to go on a quick errand to get stuff to cheer up Youngjae with, and now they're about to send out a search party for me.”

 

Jin wiped his face and stood up. “You should go. There's no reason why two groups should have to worry about missing members. Thank you for listening to me, but seriously, you should go, sunbaenim.”

 

Yongguk frowned. He didn't want to leave the ghostly idol behind, but he needed to get back to his members.

 

“Come with me.”

 

Jin looked at him questioningly. “W-What?”

 

“Come with me. Youngjae has been in a bad way for a couple of days, and maybe you can help me think of some way to make him happy.”

 

The former visual's eyes widened in shock. “What happened to Youngjae?”

 

The rapper shook his head. “I don't know. He's just been crying and refusing to eat since yesterday. Himchan and Jongup called me because they didn't know what to do. So now the whole group is sort of camping out in their apartment trying get him to feel better. You know how he is, he doesn't usually get upset to the point of being inconsolable like this, so our schedules are canceled for a couple of days because he scared our manager so badly.”

 

Jin approached Yongguk slowly. “I don't want to impose—”

 

“You're not. Even if you were alive, we would still be able to have enough food to eat and places to sleep for all of us.” The rapper noticed the rain was starting to decrease, so he stepped outside of the bus shelter. “Besides, we've got to figure out how you died so we can return your body to your family.”

 

The visual gave the other man a small smile. “Thank you, Yongguk-ssi. Even if we fail to find out what happened to me, I appreciate that you're taking the time to help me—especially since we don't really know each other very well.”

 

“Ready?”  


“Yeah, let's go.”

 

The two idols dashed through the wet streets and into the night.

 


	2. Let's Visit a Ghost Town

**Chapter 2: Let's Visit a Ghost Town**

 

Jin followed B.A.P's leader into a building he recognized as being where Youngjae lived. When Yongguk arrived at the dorm, Himchan came to greet him with a worried expression his face.

 

“Hyung, what took you so long? Are you okay?”

 

Yongguk took off his shoes and smiled at his member. “Yeah, I just got caught in the rain.”

 

The younger man frowned and grabbed the bags out of his leader's hands. “You're completely drenched, go take shower and get warm.”

 

The taller man nodded and moved past him, while Seokjin stayed in the hallway unsure of what to do. Himchan straightened up the shoes in the entryway, then walked to the living room. The ghost decided to follow the other man.

 

“Youngjae, guess what hyung bought?” Himchan announced, holding up the bags in his hands.

 

In return he was hushed by Daehyun, and Jin noticed the the three youngest members of the group had fallen asleep.

 

“Sorry,” Himchan whispered. “I didn't expect them to pass out so quickly.”

 

“I didn't either. Could you move Junhong off my arm? His shoulder is killing me,” Daehyun groaned. On one side of the vocalist was Jongup resting his head on the older member's chest, with the youngest in the group on top of him. On the other side was Seokjijn's friend, Youngjae. He had never seen the older man look so tired—even at the height of his most tiring promotions. He reached out to pat his shoulder, but his hand just went through his friend's body, as though he was just a projection of a person on a movie screen.

 

Disappointment filled the ghost, and he settled down on the floor for the night watching Himchan move Zelo off of Daehyun, then give Jongup a piggyback ride to his room. When he returned, he squatted down unknowingly next to Seokjin.

 

“What do you want to do about him?”

 

Daehyun shifted Youngjae, so he was laying on his lap while he brushed his fingers through his hair. “Would you kill me if I suggested we move everything out of here, so all the mattresses and blankets could be out here? I don't have a problem with sleeping in Youngjae's room, but I think it would be better if we were all here together until we figure out what's going on.”

 

Himchan sighed and hung his head. “As much as I hate that, I agree. Let's wait until Yongguk gets out here to do it.”

 

“Hyung, I can help.” Zelo's tired voice replied, while his eyes remained shut. He pushed himself up and together, they moved everything out except the couch. Jin laughed when he saw them dragging a mattress from one of the rooms with Jongup still sleeping on it. Yongguk returned a few minutes later and signaled for Seokjin to follow him. He shut the bathroom door behind him and locked it.

 

“Okay, so I've finally thought of where to start,” the taller man said in a voice that was deeper than usual because he was tired. “Where were you supposed to be last? Like, did you make any plans for this weekend?”

 

Jin thought for a moment. “I wasn't supposed to have a schedule for a couple of days, so I waited for Jaehwan to tell me if he could play with me at an internet cafe.”

 

“Jaehwan? The guy from VIXX?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Yongguk nodded. “Okay, that's a good place to start.”

 

Seokjin spent the night watching the members of B.A.P sleeping in the living room. As they rested, he couldn't help but think of his own group and wonder how they were doing. Did they miss him? Were they worried and waiting for him to pick up their calls so they could hear his voice? He didn't want to think about how they would react when they would inevitably find out about his demise, and hoped he wouldn't be around when it happened.

 

Hours later, Yongguk and Seokjin were nervously standing in front of VIXX's door. Sanghyuk answered the door. “Um, hi?”

 

“Hi, I was wondering if I could speak to Jaehwan.” Yongguk gave the younger man a gummy smile, hoping he wouldn't think it was too weird for him to be there. While B.A.P could consider themselves as being friends with VIXX, the leader had never visited the group by himself before.

 

Sanghuk hesitated. “Um, I don't know if that's a good idea, you should ask Hakyeon-hyung first.”

 

Yongguk followed the younger man inside. “Wait here, I'll go grab him.”

 

The ghost turned to the rapper. “I'm going to take a look around, I'll be right back.” Without waiting for a reply, Seokjin went through the dorm looking for the other members, but none of them were in any of the rooms. It was like a ghost town. Was everyone in Jaehwan's room?

 

The BTS member was about to walk through the last room, when the door opened and the leader of VIXX came face-to-face with Seokjin. Hakyeon's eyes widened and he slammed the door shut behind him, beckoning Yongguk and him to come with him into the living room.

 

“Please sit down. I think we have a lot to talk about. Jaehwan has been really upset over something, so I'd prefer if we could keep him out of this until he felt better.”

 

The two idols sat down on the sofa, while Hakyeon remained standing. “Let me start off by offering my condolences—”

 

“Wait, wait. How can you see him too?” Yongguk interrupted in shock, as he didn't know of anyone who could see ghosts, besides his twin.

 

“I don't know why, but here he is looking like he got into a fight and lost.” Hakyeon snorted. “I've been able to see ghosts for years. When MyDOL was being filmed, our dorm was haunted by ghosts that liked to mess with the members. Then when we started promoting as VIXX, guess what? Every dorm we moved into had a serious ghost problem! You have no idea how tired I was protecting my members—especially Taekwoon—from being hurt by them. It's only been recently that I've been able to back off and get some peace.”

 

Seokjin's jaw dropped, and he thought back to all the times Jaehwan complained about Hakyeon's erratic behavior and how grateful he was when it started to drop off.

 

_One time he tackled Wonshik out of nowhere! I thought he was going to break his back!_

 

_He just grabbed Taekwoon-hyung and refused to get off him, like he was trying to protect him from gunfire, or something for a good ten minutes until Hongbin and Ravi pulled him off! It was ridiculous!_

 

“That makes so much sense now. Are there any other idols who can see them too?”

 

“Oh yeah, Yesung from Super Junior and JYJ's Jaejoong can see ghosts as well. Ryeowook used tell me horror stories about the malicious ghosts they had in their dorms and how they tried possess some of the members. Those two guys pretty much never got sleep when they debuted because of it. They even had a show at one point about it when one ghost was dead-set on killing Donghae. Man, SM really knows how to pick places.”

 

“Do your members know that you can see ghosts?” Yongguk asked. He had never thought about bringing up to his own members, and wondered if the other leader had.

 

“Absolutely not. You have no idea how many times I've embarrassed myself trying to save their ungrateful asses,” Hakyeon huffed. “Anyway, moving on, why are you guys here? Does his group know yet?”

 

Yongguk cleared his throat. “Actually, we were hoping to talk to Jaehwan first. Jin has no idea how he died, so we're trying to piece together what happened two days ago and find his body before we tell them.”

 

Hakyeon looked at Seokjin. “Okay, but how would talking to Jaehwan help you? He hasn't left this apartment since our fan meeting a couple of days ago.”

 

“So he didn't meet up with me then?” Seokjin asked, his wide shoulders dropped in disappointment. “The last thing I remember before I woke up like this is that I was waiting for him to reply if he could go with me to an internet cafe to play games.”

 

Hakyeon nodded in understanding. “I don't think he did, but I haven't been here the whole time, so maybe he did go. Let's go ask.”

 

The three idols went to the door and Hakyeon opened it. The other members looked up at him. “Hey guys, do you mind giving us some privacy with Jaehwan for a couple of minutes?” One by one, the members left hesitantly. Seokjin could tell they wanted to ask about Yongguk's presence, but were waiting until he left to do so.

 

Hakyeon closed the door behind him and gently shook the vocalist awake. “Hey, sorry to wake you, but did you plan on meeting Jin this weekend?”

 

Jaehwan blinked owlishly at his leader. “Well, I had hoped to play games with him and Youngjae because we thought our schedules would let us, but then...it didn't work out.”

 

Yongguk was confused. Jin hadn't mentioned Youngjae before, and from the look on the former idol's face, it was clear this was news to him as well.

 

Hakyeon turned back to Yongguk. “Do you have any other questions for him?”

 

Yongguk shook his head. “No, sorry to wake you up.”

 

VIXX's leader walked them outside. “I'm sorry, you guys. It looks like your only lead turned out to be a dead end.”

 

“Actually, he gave us another lead,” Yongguk responded thoughtfully.

 

Seokjin frowned in confusion. “How so?”  
  


“Jin didn't know Youngjae also planned on meeting up with him, so maybe he knows something.”

 

Hakyeon bid them goodbye, and urged them to call if they needed him. Yongguk and Seokjin went back to B.A.P's dorm ready to talk to Youngjae.

 


	3. Crossed Wires

**Chapter 3: Crossed Wires**

 

Around noon, Yongguk and Seokjin arrived at B.A.P's dorm ready to talk to Youngjae. They entered to find the members eating takeout, but the vocalist they were looking for wasn't among them.

 

“Where's Youngjae?” Yongguk asked accepting the plate Himchan handed him.

 

“He's taking a shower.”

 

Yongguk sat next to Daehyun. “Did you get him to eat anything?”

 

The vocalist shook his head. “He said he wasn't hungry, but at least I got him to drink some water when he woke up. He's really dehydrated.”

 

The leader stirred his food around, and the youngest tapped his foot. “Where did you go?”

 

“I went to meet with Hakyeon. Leader stuff.”

 

Himchan and Jongup stared at him. “You went to VIXX's dorm by yourself? Why didn't you tell us?”

 

“I didn't want to put anything else on you guys. I need you to focus on figuring out what's wrong with Youngjae before we get in trouble for canceling our schedules for so long.”

 

Daehyun huffed. “If it takes Youngjae a year to feel better, I will make sure he gets that.”

 

Yongguk sighed. “Look, just figure out why he's upset. I'll handle TS and everything else.”

 

Junhong tapped his foot again. “Don't carry the whole world on your shoulders, hyung. Let us help, okay?”

 

The leader smiled at his concerned member. “If there's something you can do for me, I will ask. But there's some things I've got to do on my own.”

 

Jongup looked up from his dish. “Like what?”

 

“Like figuring out why there's a ghost following him around!” Seokjin shouted, causing Yongguk to snort into his food. He hid his laugh by turning it into a cough. “Hey, can someone get me something to drink?”

 

After Himchan came back with water, the conversation changed to lighter topics and Yongguk was left in peace. He wasn't able to get Youngjae alone to talk to him all day. The younger man wasn't crying anymore, but he was still refusing to talk.

 

At around midnight, everyone seemed to be asleep except for Yongguk and Seokjin. They had moved to Himchan's room to talk, so they wouldn't bother anyone else.

 

“Have you remembered anything else yet?”

 

The visual shook his head. “No, I don't even remember how I got to the convenience store.”

 

Yongguk was concerned about why Jin would be in that area. BTS lived far from where Youngjae lived, so why would he end up there?

 

“Hyung?”

 

The older idols jumped and looked up to see Youngjae in the doorway rubbing his eyes. “What are you doing?”

 

Yongguk panicked, as he was never good at coming up with responses on the spot.

 

“Tell him you're rehearsing what to say to your managers about his condition,” Seokjin hissed.

 

“I'm trying to think of how to delay stuff being added to your schedule for a while,” Yongguk said, hoping his younger member would buy it.

 

Youngjae hung his head in embarrassment. “I'm sorry for causing so much trouble. I didn't think Himchan-hyung would call everyone over, let alone that you guys would stay here.”

 

“Don't worry about that for now.” Yongguk patted the space of floor next to him, and Youngjae sat down. “Let's just talk, okay?”

 

“What about?”

 

The leader laid the younger singer's head on his shoulder. “Well, have you talked to Jin recently? When I went to talk to Hakyeon, Jaehwan told me you guys all wanted to meet up. Maybe seeing him would cheer you up.”

 

To Jin and Yongguk's surprise, Youngjae's posture became stiff. “What's wrong? Did you have a fight with him or something?”

 

“Actually, we planned to meet up with him at an internet cafe a couple of days ago, but he never showed up...”

 

Yongguk frowned, trying to make sure he had heard correctly. “You went to the cafe with Jaehwan, and you both were expecting Seokjin to come, but he never did?”

 

“Yeah, we waited for him for an hour, but when he didn't show up, we left.” Youngjae seemed to be uncomfortable with the conversation and stood up. “Hyung, I'm tired. I'm going back to sleep.”

 

As soon as he heard his band mate's footsteps fade, Yongguk pulled his phone out and quickly started texting. Jin's ghost leaned over the screen, trying to see what he was writing. “What's going on?” The older idol didn't reply and seemed to be waiting for a response. A few minutes later, a text arrived.

 

After Yongguk read the text, he closed his phone and looked up at Jin. “I thought I had misheard Jaehwan earlier because he told us they didn't meet up, but Youngjae said Jaehwan did go out to the cafe. I asked Hakyeon to check with him again to be sure, and he just confirmed that Jaehwan told him again that he didn't go at all.”

 

Jin's eyes widened. “Their stories don't match up...why would they lie about that?”

 

Yongguk looked back down at his phone and opened it again. “I guess we have no other choice.”

 

Seokjin was curious about what the rapper was thinking, but waited until he closed his phone again to ask. “What are you thinking?”

 

The leader sighed and looked seriously at the former idol. “Hakyeon and I are going to have to meet with Namjoon.”

 

Jin jumped to his feet in panic. “No! Why would we have to include him in this? Isn't he going to suffer enough when he finds out I'm dead?!”

 

Yongguk sighed and a ran a hand through his hair. “Jaehwan and Youngjae were our only leads to figuring out where you were last. Seeing as how their stories don't match up, I think they're hiding something. So the only other person who might know would be one of your members.”

 

Seokjin fidgeted as he mulled over what the older idol said. As much as he didn't want to admit it, Namjoon was the only person who would know his full schedule, including if he went out with friends. And if members of another group asked one of the managers about his whereabouts out of the blue...there would be a lot of trouble, especially considering how he hadn't been home in a couple of days. He didn't like the idea of confronting the leader at all, but what other choice did they have?

 

Jin sighed and looked at Yongguk, who gave him a reassuring smile. “I won't tell him you're dead, or that I know you've been missing, okay? I'm not going to spring that on him, that's not my place. I'm going to ask Hakyeon to contact him and say we want to have a get-together as idol group leaders to talk, okay?”

 

The former idol thought about how his leader would react to Hakyeon's call. The man usually left mingling among groups to the younger members, while he mainly spoke with producers and people in charge of managing BTS. He had idol friends, but was never close Yongguk or Hakyeon. It would probably give him quite a shock...

 

“Okay, but only if you let me dictate the message Hakyeon is going to send him.”

 


	4. Where Did You Go?

**Chapter 4: Where Did You Go?**

 

Yongguk was awoken by one of the members shaking his shoulder. He blearily looked up to see Junhong smiling down at him.

 

“Hyung, it's time for breakfast.”

 

B.A.P's leader wanted to go back to sleep, but nobody was having it. Zelo and Jongup pulled him into a sitting position and Himchan put a plate on his lap. Daehyun was yelling about something to Youngjae—even though he was right next to him—over the sound of the television that only Seokjin's ghost seemed to be watching. If it weren't for the fact that his stomach was growling, he probably would have just fallen back to sleep.

 

The rapper had just finished his meal when he noticed his phone had gotten a text. He came to find that it wasn't a text, it was a flood of texts. He knew Hakyeon liked to talk, but this was ridiculous. His disgruntlement ended when he realized the other man had managed to arrange a meeting with Namjoon at VIXX's dorm.  
  


Yongguk looked at the time and jumped up, knocking over his plate. The meeting was in an hour, and he was across town. He sprinted to the shower and hurried to get ready on time.

 

The rapper exited the bathroom after he was done, racing pass his members to the door. He ignored their questions as he put on his shoes, and made sure he had his phone and wallet on him.

 

Seokjin came over to him. “Are we meeting Hakyeon and Namjoon now?”

 

“Yeah,” Yongguk whispered as quietly as he could.

 

The ghost's breath hitched and his eyes went wide. Yongguk knew he was a bit scared to see his leader, but couldn't comfort the former idol while his band mates were within hearing distance. He really hoped the guy would be okay until they could talk privately.

 

Seokjin and Yongguk were out of breath by the time they arrived to VIXX's dorm, they had made it on time. Hakyeon opened the door for them. “He's not here yet, so breathe, you guys.”

 

B.A.P's leader looked around. “Are you here alone?”

 

“Yeah, I gave my members money so they'd go out for food. Jaehwan's still really down, but he's at least he agreed to leave here for a couple of hours.”

 

Seokjin paced around VIXX's living room. “He's not here? But he wouldn't be late for something like this. What if something happened to him on his way here? What if he found out what happened to me and is somewhere crying—?”

 

“Jin, stop for a second.” The former visual stopped, as Hakyeon hurried to him. He examined the ghost for several minutes. “How is this possible?”

 

Jin looked uncomfortable with how close the older man was getting to him. “How is what possible?” Hakyeon motioned for Yongguk to join him. “Are you seeing what I'm seeing?”

 

At first, the rapper had no idea what the leader was talking about, but then he noticed that Jin's skin looked differently from the past two days, as his bruises were yellow and green, instead of purple. He gasped when he realized what Hakyeon was pointing out.

 

“Oh, shit.”

 

The former idol looked up at him with a panicked look in his eyes. “What?! What's wrong!?”

 

Hakyeon moved back and held his arms out, so it would look like he had his hands on Seokjin's shoulders. “First of all, let me just say this. I didn't know this was possible, but I think you're—”

 

A knock on the door made all three men jump. VIXX's leader turned back to look at Jin. “We'll talk about it after he's gone, okay?”

 

Seokjin wanted to ask, but Hakyeon already walked off to open the front door. “Hello, Namjoon-ssi! Come on in.”

 

Yongguk leaned over to whisper comforting words to the former BTS member. “It's going to be okay. Hakyeon and I are going be here the whole time. Trust us, okay?”

 

The ghost nodded, but let out a low whimper when his leader entered the room. While the leaders were all making small talk, Jin slowly approached his friend and saw how tired the man was. “Oh, Namjoon. You haven't been taking care of yourself, have you?”

 

Hakyeon cleared his throat, which made the ghost jump and pull back. “Sorry, my throat just got really dry. I'm going to get some water, does anyone want anything?”

 

The two idols asked for water as well, and sat down on the couch. While they waited for their host to come back, they waited in silence, not having any idea how to start a conversation. Luckily, Hakyeon was quick to return.

 

“I also invited Eunkwang and Leeteuk, but they weren't able to come today. We never sit down and talk, even though we're all group leaders in the same line of work, so I figured it would be good to at least attempt a talk between ourselves.”

 

Yongguk smiled. “Yeah, it's a position with a lot of responsibility and hardships, isn't it? My members have always had my back, but there's still some things I have to do alone.”

 

“I know, right?” Hakyeon responded. “I just want to dance and be with my members, but instead I've got spend so much time in meetings arguing with management.”

 

“Have you ever thought about stepping down as leader?” Namjoon pipped up.

 

Hakyeon laughed. “Are you kidding me? While that would make my life easier, my group would go to pieces if one of them had to step up instead of me.”

 

The BTS member's eyes widened. “Really? But you're going to have to enlist soon, right?”

 

The smile on the older idol's face dropped. “Yeah, I'm going to have to go in a year or so, but I've been too nervous to talk to my members about it. I'd like for all of us to go together, but I don't think the members or Jellyfish would want that..”

 

Namjoon turned to Yongguk. “What about you?”

 

The rapper gave him a small smile. “We're hoping to go together. We've talked about it a couple of times since debut, but really it's going to come down to TS.”

 

“We've told people we want to as seven, but...” Namjoon trailed off looking at his glass of water.

 

Yongguk saw this as his opening to talk about Jin. “Your oldest member is a couple of years younger than us, but he's also older than you isn't he?”

 

Namjoon nodded, clenching his glass tightly in his hands. “Yeah, he was born in 1992, while I was born in 1994.”

 

“What's it like to lead members who are older than you? I can only imagine how difficult it would be when you have conflicts,” Hakyeon mused.

 

Jin glared at VIXX's leader and hissed, “I'll have you know we get along just fine.”

 

The young rapper sighed heavily, having no idea about Jin's presence in the room. “We have a good relationship and communicate well. When I ask him to do something, as his leader, he does it.”

 

“But?” Hakyeon egged him on.

 

“But when we get into serious fights at the dorms or anywhere away from cameras, it's...bad.”

  
“How bad?” Yongguk asked.

 

“It depends on what we're fighting about.” Namjoon fidgeted in his seat. “Can I tell you guys something? It can't leave here, okay?”

 

The older leaders nodded and the younger rapper sighed. “A couple of days ago I had a big fight with Jin-hyung. Everyone else had schedules, but he didn't so he said he was going to meet up with some friends. I was stressed out from a meeting with management, so I told him he should practice instead of playing around. I know I should have deescalated it, but instead I made it worse.” Namjoon laid his glass down on the coffee table and put his head in his hands. “I told him that if he didn't go right then to practice and improve his singing, I was going to petition for him to be removed from the group and the other members would support me.”

 

Yongguk and Hakyeon's jaws dropped and they turned to look at Jin, who had an expression of shock on his face. His eyes filled with tears as he looked at his leader, who was openly sobbing now. “I didn't mean it, and I regret saying something so cruel—I know he's doing the best he can and he's come so far. I would never want him to leave, and the rest of the members wouldn't support me in kicking him out either. But I said it and now he's gone.”

 

Hakyeon looked down at the younger man and put a hand on his back. “What do you mean 'he's gone'?”

 

“He stood there, then he took off and hasn't returned to the dorm since,” Namjoon gasped, while wiping his tears. “I told the members he took a trip to buy time while I searched for him. He left his car behind, so I figured I could find him faster. But then our managers asked Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung why Jin-hyung didn't show up to one of his schedules yesterday while I wasn't there. I came back last night to everyone being angry with me because they knew I had lied to them.”

 

Yongguk sighed and put a hand on the younger rapper's shoulder. “You probably understand this now, but you should never lie about another member when you're in a situation like this. Right now, especially, you need them in your corner.”

 

Hakyeon left and B.A.P's leader looked at the missing BTS member. Seokjin had tears falling down his face and his hands were covering his mouth as his gaze rested on his leader. He seemed to be in shock and grieved beyond words.

 

Namjoon breathed out deeply. “I'm sorry I dumped all of that on you guys. I haven't been able to get any sleep since Seokjin-hyung disappeared and I'm so scared something happened to him. Every time I get a text, I pray it's him telling me he's on his way home to kick my ass.”

 

“Have you talked to any of his friends or family about this?” Yongguk asked carefully.

 

The younger leader sniffed and shook his head. “Only the members and some of the managers know. I'm too much of a coward to ask anyone else if they've seen him because they'll ask why I don't know where he is and then they'll know something's wrong.”

 

Hakyeon returned with a box of tissues, and moved Namjoon's hands so he could clean up his face. “I can tell you right now that Jaehwan will be no help. He's been sick over something that upset him a few days ago.”

 

“Youngjae too,” Yongguk pipped up. “We've all been camped out at the apartment he lives in with Himchan and Jongup. He's just started eating again.”

 

Namjoon leaned into Hakyeon's shoulder. “No offense, but I'm glad I'm not the only one who is having difficulty right now. I was thinking I was the worst leader in the world and everyone else was doing fine, except me.”

 

Hakyeon threw the used tissues on the coffee table. “Oh, please. If I've learned anything from Ryeowook and my time in VIXX, it's that every group has some sort of problem; it just doesn't always look like it because we don't talk honestly enough. Even if your going through something you think your members wouldn't understand, I guarantee another leader who's been around about as long as you or longer would.”

 

Namjoon moved away from Hakyeon and stood up. “Thank you, inviting me to talk like this, I really needed it. I'm going to tell my members what happened, then I'll get back to looking for Jin-hyung.”

 

Yongguk stood up and held out his hand. “No problem, let's exchange numbers so we can talk in the future.” The younger leader eager exchanged information, then went to put his shoes on. “I know you guys are probably busy, but if you hear anything about where Jin-hyung could be, would you please tell me? I don't care if it's just a rumor. I miss him so much.”

 

Hakyeon stood up and walked over to help the rapper out. “Of course. Please get back home safely.” Namjoon departed more at peace than when he came, and VIXX's leader shut the door behind him. “Okay, back to business—”

 

Seokjin interrupted him, “I'm sorry, can we talk about this later? It was a lot to take in and I really can't handle everything else.”

 

“I don't think this can wait, Jin. I don't think you're dead.”

 

The former idol looked at the dancer incredulously. “What are you talking about? I'm a ghost.”

 

Hakyeon huffed. “I've never met a ghost that wasn't dead, but I think something happened to you where your soul separated from your body without you needing to die.”

 

“How is that even possible?” Jin scoffed. “Where would you even come up with that?”

 

“You clearly haven't taken a look in the mirror since you've been a ghost because if you did, you would see that your body is healing itself. Sure, you kinda look paler than usual and a bit thinner, but that's it.”

 

“I don't understand.” The former idol was confused and looking down at his arms. “Maybe my body is being stored somewhere that's slowing my decomposition.”

 

“Seokjin, dead bodies don't heal.” Yongguk sighed and Jin looked up at him. “I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner, but your body isn't decaying. If it was, your bruises wouldn't be fading.”

 

Hakyeon nodded. “Take off your shirt, I want to see your back. If you're dead, blood will—”

 

Jin jumped and hid behind Yongguk. “I don't want to hear anymore details about dead bodies. I believe you guys now, so please stop.”

 

Hakyeon looked put out. “Spoil sport.”

 

Yongguk cleared his throat. “Now that we have a lead about where you might have gone, I say we should try to go to the internet cafe you like to meet Youngjae and Jaehwan at, and see if it brings back any memories.”

 

“Well, Namjoon didn't know if Jin arrived there and Youngjae said he didn't. So, I think your best bet would be to figure out a route from the cafe to his dorm,” Hakyeon said thoughtfully.

 

“I agree, let's go.”

 

Yongguk let Seokjin lead him to the cafe because he had no idea where it was. When they arrived, nothing seemed to be off—but then again Yongguk was an idol, not a detective, so what would he know? They walked from the cafe to another street. The roads narrowed as they went.

 

“Jin, this is still pretty far from where you lived. Are you sure you wouldn't have taken a bus or something?” Yongguk asked in concern.

 

“No, I wouldn't have taken a—”

 

Seokjin dropped on the ground. Yongguk looked around to make sure they were alone, then dropped down to the visual's side. “Jin, are you okay?”

 

_He could feel blood running down his face as he was tossed into the trunk of a car. He tried to scream, but his throat felt like the air had been squeezed out of his lungs. It was dark and the street lights were too dim for him to make out who was leering down at him. It appeared to be a man, but maybe it was just him assuming things because they were towering over him. He tried to move but his wrists were tied together and was too disoriented to move his head. The figure paused to watch him give up his struggle, then spat at him and slammed the trunk closed. His eyes fell shut, and he knew nothing more._

 

There was no response for a moment, but then the former idol blinked and shakily stood up.

 

Jin's eyes were full of fear. “Yongguk, I just remembered...I was abducted here.”

 


	5. Liar, Liar

**Chapter 5: Liar, Liar**

 

The next day, Yongguk and Seokjin returned to the place the former idol remembered being abducted in to see if he could recall anything else.

 

After the BTS member had remembered that he _had_ been abducted, the two idols had wandered around streets nearby in hopes of finding more information. Nothing came from it, so Jin called off the search when he realized they had been out all night because he knew Yongguk was exhausted.

 

And now here they were again a couple of hours later, walking down a side street a mile away from the internet cafe.

 

“Do you want to go left or right?” Jin asked when the road split into two.

 

Yongguk looked at his phone to check the time. “I'll go left. Let's meet back here in an hour, okay?”

 

“I don't have a watch or a phone on me...” Seokjin admitted sheepishly.

 

“Sorry, I forgot. Let's not split up after all. I don't want to lose you.”

 

The ghost agreed and they went to the left. Yongguk was keeping track of were they had been through an app on his phone, and noticed that they had really covered a lot of ground. His feet were hurting, but he didn't want to stop.

 

Even though a part of him stubbornly thought the idol next to him was dead, he couldn't deny that the ghost was healing from his wounds instead of decaying. The idea that the man next to him could be alive and in desperate need of medical attention was what kept him going.

 

After a couple of hours, Seokjin stopped him again. “As much as I appreciate all of the effort you're putting in to helping me, you really need to take a break. I can walk as much as I want, and I won't get thirsty and my feet won't hurt, but you're still very much a person with a body that tires out.”

 

Yongguk wanted to disagree with the ghost, but he knew if he pushed himself too far, he would be hurting. “Alright, how about we stop when we find a convenience store? Then, I'll be able to sit down and eat something.”

 

Luckily, there was a store a couple of blocks away. As B.A.P's leader prepared his ramen, Seokjin was giving him tips for how to make it taste better. As the ghost continued to talk, Yongguk remembered that the younger idol was the eldest of his group and had a reputation of being affectionate with them. How old was the youngest member when he joined the group? If he had been around the age Junhong was at when he first met him, Seokjin's disappearance probably hit him hard.

 

And if they never found his body...

 

“Hyung, are you okay?” Yongguk jumped and nearly choked on his ramen. He looked up to see Himchan in front of him wearing sunglasses and a hat. While most idols tended to disguise themselves in public, Yongguk had been too caught up in finding clues about Jin's disappearance to grab anything besides sunglasses. If a Baby or tabloid reporter had seen him wandering around town for hours, he probably would have looked very strange. And if Himchan was able to find him here, then he must have been following him for quite a while; nobody was close by him, so he probably wasn't within earshot when he was talking to Seokjin.

 

“What are you doing out here?” The leader swallowed the noodles in his mouth and gestured for his member to sit with him.

 

“I'm out looking for something.”

 

Himchan gave him a knowing look.

 

“I'm looking for...something I lost around here.”

 

Himchan wasn't buying it.

 

“What?”

 

The man opened the bottle of water his leader had purchased and opened it. “You've never been a good liar, you know that?”

 

Yongguk hung his head, while the younger member took a drink. They sat in silence for a moment, until Himchan sighed and put the water back on the table. “Yongguk, tell me what's going on. You never leave someone when they're in a time of need, so I'm assuming that you keep disappearing from the apartment because there's something serious going on.”

 

“Is Youngjae okay?”

 

Himchan gave him a pointed look. “He's not and you know it. So, spill. What's been going on? I don't buy it for a second that your meeting with Hakyeon and Namjoon wasn't related to him. It's got something to do with Jaehwan and Seokjin, doesn't it?”

 

Yongguk looked up in surprise. “How did you know that?”

 

The handsome man raised an eyebrow. “Hyung, I have a phone. Everyone in the group has a phone. We are all friends with other idols. In fact, I'm friends with Taekwoon and he's been worried sick about Jaehwan. So with all of the information I've been able to get, I'm going to assume something happened to Seokjin when Youngjae and Jaehwan planned on meeting up with him. Am I right?”

 

The former visual leaned over and smiled. “It's okay. Tell him I went missing and you're trying to find me by retracing my steps from the internet cafe. Yesterday you told Namjoon to be honest about stuff like this, so don't you think that's what you should do?”

 

Yongguk took in what Jin's ghost said, then looked at Himchan again. “Seokjin disappeared a couple of days ago. He was supposed to meet up with Youngjae and Jaehwan at the internet cafe by your apartment but he never made it. I'm under the impression he's in a bad state and has possibly been kidnapped—now, I don't have any physical proof of it, but it's a hunch I have.”

 

The rapper had expected the other man to laugh at him or question him more, but was relieved the younger man didn't blow him off. “Well, considering how he's been missing for a couple of days, I wouldn't rule it out. So, you're basically trying to retrace his steps?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Himchan hummed in response, then raised his eyes to Yongguk's. “Have you checked bus routes yet?”

 

“No, I haven't. I just thought that if he was abducted, he'd probably be somewhere in the area.”

 

The younger man disagreed. “You forget how far those three guys live from each other. If they were going to walk to the cafe, it would be a short distance.”

 

Seokjin agreed. “My dorm is way too far from Youngjae's, so I probably hopped on a train then took a bus over here. I might have taken a cab, though, I don't know.”

 

Yongguk leaned back in his seat, while considering what Jin said. “Namjoon said Seokjin didn't take his car, so unless he took a cab, we're look at a ton of bus routes.”

 

Himchan pulled out his phone and waved him off. “There are only so many ways to get around on the road. Finish your ramen, while I try to figure this out.”

 

An hour later, a grin broke out over the man's face. “I think I know what they did. Taekwoon just told me that they tend to meet up somewhere between where all of them live, _then_ they go to their destination together.”

 

Yongguk looked over to Seokjin to confirm what Himchan said, and the ghost nodded his head vigorously. “That's right!” Turning his attention back to his member, he asked. “Okay, so what where that be?”

 

“One of the old dorms BTS used to live in.”

 

Jin gasped at the realization, feeling embarrassed for not thinking of it before. Vaguely, he wondered if being separated from his body had caused basic knowledge about his life to slip from his memory. He really hoped not.

 

So the three idols set out to the old BTS dorm. Yongguk had texted Namjoon for the address, even though Seokjin was right there, because Himchan still didn't know about his ability to see ghosts.

 

They were a few blocks away from the building when it came into their sights. It was closed for remodeling, and clearly hadn't been occupied for a while. There were no lights on around the building, and the darkness made it look foreboding to Yongguk.

 

The BTS member waited for something to hit him, hoping there would be another clue here. Then, after they had crossed the street to the building, he gasped and fell on the ground.

 

“ _JIN!”_

 

_Seokjin turned around and smiled as he saw his friends, Youngjae and Jaehwan waving at him._

 

“ _We got here at the same time, can you believe it?” Jaehwan laughed._

 

_Youngjae smiled and jumped on Seokjin, to hug him. “Come on, let's go have some fun! I want play all night!”_

 

_Together, the three idols walked away from the building in an upbeat mood._

 

When Seokjin finally came around, he shakily got up and looked around for Yongguk and Himchan, while wondering why his best friends had lied about not meeting him.

 


	6. Of Fear and Silence

**Chapter 6: Of Fear and Silence**

 

Seokjin sat nervously on the floor of B.A.P's dorm waiting for Hakyeon and Jaehwan to arrive. After he told Yongguk what he remembered, the older idol had texted VIXX's leader. They were so close to finding out what happened to him that night. But, he wasn't sure he was ready to hear it.

 

Jin looked down at his ghostly body. The bruises on his arms looked better today than they had before, but he had a feeling that wherever his body was, it wasn't being taken care of. While thinking about death scared him, the reality that he could be alive but unable to go back to his former life was terrifying.

 

The voice of VIXX's leader speaking with B.A.P's snapped Jin out of his thoughts. Yongguk, Hakyeon, Youngjae, and Jaehwan settled around the living room. It was just the five of them in the apartment now.

 

Seokjin was grateful when Hakyeon cleared his throat and started the conversation. “We need you both to be honest with us. What happened the night Jin disappeared?”

 

Youngjae and Jaehwan looked at the dancer in surprise, then looked at each other. “Don't you dare try to lie to us. If he's in danger, we need to know that so we can help him,” Hakyeon scolded.

 

Youngjae looked up at Yongguk defiantly. “Why do you think we've got something to do with it?”

 

Seokjin had always known B.A.P's leader as being a calm man, but at his member's snide comment, he leaned over the man with a furious expression on his face. “I don't _think_ you've got something to do with it, I _know_ you've got something to do with it. Your stories didn't match up. The night he disappeared you both met up with him, and you are going to tell me why he's missing.”

 

Jaehwan and Youngjae refused to back down. The B.A.P vocalist challenged the leaders, standing up to leave. “We don't know what you're talking about, and even if we did, you have no right to interfere.”

 

Clearly, Yongguk had had enough. He grabbed his younger member by the front of his shirt and lifted him up, before slamming him into a wall. “Cut the crap, Youngjae! We know you guys met Jin in front of his old dorm and he was abducted near the internet cafe. He might be alive right now, but if you keep playing games, he'll die. So, I'm going to give you one last chance to come clean before I call the cops on you and tell them you're an accessory to murder.”

 

Youngjae's eyes widened and his breathing became uneven. Jaehwan started shaking and stammering, “Y-You wouldn't do that! If-f you c-call the cops on us, you know that'll be the end of VIXX, B.A.P, and BTS! E-Everyone will think w-we hated him and p-plotted to destroy his career! Don't threaten to wreck our l-lives like this!”

 

“Then tell us what happened that night!” Yongguk growled and a voice so low and filled with rage, Youngjae became afraid of his leader. People tended to think the man looked scary, but once they got to know him they found him to be a good man. But right now, for the first time since he met the rapper, Youngjae was scared.

 

“H-He told us not to tell!” Youngjae cried.

 

“Stop ly—!”

 

“We're not lying!” Jaehwan sobbed. “He told us not to tell anyone.”

 

Hakyeon huffed angrily and turned to Seokjin. “Give them permission to tell us!”

 

Jin, who had been sitting in shock since the argument broke out, stood up. “Jaehwan, Youngjae, I give you guys permission to tell whatever it is I told you to keep a secret.”

 

Hakyeon repeated the ghost's statement for the two terrified friends. Jaehwan looked at his leader, thinking the man had finally lost his mind and was hallucinating. “Hyung, what—?”

 

“And tell them I'm here—tell them what became of my spirit.”

 

The dancer hesitated, but repeated the former idol's statement. Youngjae glared at Hakyeon, still clenched in Yongguk's grasp, “What is wrong with you!? Is this some kind of a sick joke!?”

 

Yongguk slammed him against the wall again. “It's not a joke. I assure you, he's in this room right now as a spirit. And if his appearance is anything to go by, he's in bad shape and could die. He gave you permission, so tell us what happened.” But instead of confessing, the younger man looked at the rapper in disbelief. “Don't tell me you believe you can see ghosts too, hyung!?”

 

Yongguk sighed heavily, then threw Youngjae onto the couch. “I give up with these two, let's just call the cops and wash our hands of this.”

 

“No, no, wait! Maybe they'll believe you if I tell you guys stuff only they know?” Jin started by listing off mundane things, such as outings the friends had made in the past, but as he went on the stories became more and more embarrassing for Youngjae and Jaehwan, who were watching their leaders with their mouths open in shock as listened to story after story.

 

“Okay, okay we get it. You can actually talk to ghosts,” Jaehwan rubbed the back of his neck in distress. “I can't believe you never told me about it before. We've been a group for so long, and you never shared such an important fact about yourself with us.”

 

Hakyeon smacked the vocalist's arm. “You never listen to anything I say, anyway, so why would I tell you something like that? Besides, most of the ghosts you're around aren't exactly pleasant people.”

 

“Wait, wh—?”

 

“We'll explain it to you guys later, but right now you need to tell us what happened that night. Seokjin only has partial memories from that night and it doesn't help us with finding out where he is right now.”

 

Jaehwan started fidgeting in his seat. “Jin texted me that night, telling me he just had a big fight with Namjoon and asked if I was free so we could meet up. He had asked me earlier in the week if we could meet, but I didn't know if I would have a schedule then, so when it turned out I could go, so I said sure. Since he moved to where he lives now, we've been meeting up at his old dorm, then walking to an internet cafe from there to play video games.”

 

“Was he taken before or after you went to the cafe?” Hakyeon asked, jotting down notes in his phone.

 

Jaehwan swallowed and continued. “Before. Jin was venting about how his group didn't appreciate him, when we heard a loud bang. We had no idea where it came from, so we stopped talking and looked around for the source of the noise.”

 

“What was it?”

 

“A gun shot,” Youngjae whispered. “None of us recognized it right away. It was so much louder than the fake guns I was used to when we film music videos.”

 

Yongguk frowned. “A gun? Seriously? Who would be able to get a gun in Korea?”

 

“I don't know, but it was definitely a gun,” Youngjae started shaking. “Jaehwan and I turned around a corner and we saw someone standing over a person on the ground. It was really dark so I didn't know what had happened at first, but then the person moved under a streetlight and I saw the gun and...the person on the ground was bleeding heavily, it was all over the road.”

 

Yongguk's mind was racing. “If someone was really shot, why didn't any of the neighbors come out or call the police? Why would a person shoot a gun in a populated area? There's no way someone wouldn't have heard it. And when Jin and I walked around that area, we didn't see a hint of dried blood anywhere.”

 

Youngjae shook his head. “I don't know either. I just know what I saw. But then the person with the gun saw us, and we tried to run from them.”

 

The vocalist broke down and sobbed again, so Jaehwan picked up where he had left off. “They were really fast, and we were so scared he was going to kill us if he slowed down. Seokjin-hyung...” 

 

Jaehwan took a moment to compose himself before continuing. “When we were a street apart from the person, Seokjin-hyung grabbed both of us and made sure we were hidden behind a wall. He knew we couldn't outrun the person, so said he'd buy us time until the police could arrive.”

 

Hakyeon put a hand on his member's shoulder. “But when did he tell you to keep it a secret? That seems to contradict him wanting you to call for help.”

 

“We heard the man coming, so Jin moved away from us right as the person came. I know there were words exchanged, but they were too far for us to hear anything. Then, I heard them struggle and it went quiet after Jin hit the ground and the person jogged off,” Youngjae took a deep breath and continued. “When we heard their footsteps fade, we came out and we saw him on the road. His head was bleeding badly and had trouble staying awake. He told us the person was dangerous and that we should run. We argued with him until we heard a car coming. He knew the person was coming back.”

 

Youngjae took choked back a sob and continued. “H-He told us he'd be okay if we went back to our hiding spot, and stayed there until the person was out of sight again. Then, he made us promise to keep it a secret until he called us. We were foolish enough to believe it wasn't anything serious, and we did what he said.”

 

“We didn't understand how serious it was until we heard Jin struggling against the person again. But by the time we realized it, the car was gone and so was Seokjin,” Jaehwan mumbled pitifully.

 

Hakyeon pulled the vocalist into his arms. “You knew the person had a gun, so why did you think everything would be okay?”

 

Youngjae put his head in his hands. “I don't know! I just trusted him to get out of it just fine, so I waited for him to call—.”

 

“While you worried yourself sick,” Yongguk finished with a heavy sigh. He turned to Seokjin to see how he was taking it. Understandably, he was upset. He reached out to the former idol, who looked at him with grief-filled eyes. “Why was I such a fool?”

 

“Probably because you panicked and never imagined you'd be in a situation like that, let alone knew what to do,” Hakyeon pipped up, from where he was holding Jaehwan, who was now clinging to the dancer, like a child would to their parent after being scared thinking there was a monster under their bed.

 

Jaehwan turned to face his leader. “You said he's here, so does that mean—?”

 

“He's dead! It means he's dead, Jaehwan! Jin's dead because we were stupid cowards,” Youngjae cried out.

 

Yongguk put a hand on his member's shoulder and tried to comfort him. “Well, we're not sure if he actually is dead—.”

 

“Who died?” Everyone jumped and turned to see the rest of B.A.P's members had returned and were concerned about the scene that was happening before them in their living room.

 

“Jin's dead and his ghost is haunting us because we left him to die!” Youngjae sobbed.

 

“WHAT!?”

 

Hakyeon turned to Yongguk. “I think we're going to have to tell them what's going on.”

 

The rapper agreed. “Yeah, want to get it over with and explain it to both of our groups? We're going to have to tell BTS at some point, so it might help to get more people in on it to brainstorm how to break it to them.”

 

“Right,” Hakyeon agreed. “Himchan, do you mind calling Taekwoon? Tell him we've got something serious to talk about here and we're probably going to be staying overnight.” The man was confused, but left the room to talk to his friend.

 

It was going to be a long night.

 


	7. Bang

**Chapter 7: Bang  
**

 

Seokjin watched as members of B.A.P and VIXX argued over how to tell his group about his disappearance. Nobody agreed with each other, and the ghost almost wished he was able to be visible to everyone so he could talk to BTS himself.

 

“What about this? We tell our managers, who contact his manager?”

  
“That's a terrible idea! If anyone should be breaking it to them, it should be people they're friends with.”

 

“What if we invited BTS out to dinner and told them then?”  
  


“Do you really want to ruin everyone's appetite? Who could eat after hearing their best friend died and is wandering around as a ghost?!”

 

“For the last time, we don't know if Jin is dead! We need to go to the police!”

 

“With what evidence?? We only have testimony from two stupid idols and a ghost. Yongguk even said he didn't see any trace of blood on the road. If this goes public, our careers will be over!”

 

Finally, Ken stood up angrily. “I don't care if it destroys my chance to ever perform again! If Jin's dead, we need to find his body so we can give it back to his family!”

 

An angry knock at the front door was heard over the noise, and caused everyone to go quiet; all wondering if the person beyond the door had heard what they were talking about.  
  


“I'll see who it is,” Seokjin volunteered. Hakyeon nodded, and quietly explained what the former idol had said. Everyone held their breath as they waited to see who was on the other side.

 

Jin hoped it was just an angry neighbor, and not an apartment manager ready to throw everyone out. He went through the door, but reeled back after he came face to face with Namjoon on the other side. The rapper's eyes were wild and he slammed his fist through Jin to knock on the door again.

 

The former BTS member scrambled back through the door and ran to where everyone was in the living room. Hakyeon and Yongguk turned to him. “What's wrong?” Jin cowered behind Yongguk. “N-Namj-joon. H-He's here.”

 

The leaders looked at each other, then Yongguk stood. “Guys, stay here.” The two groups waited in suspense as the tall man went to answer the door. He opened it and immediately he fell over from being punched in the stomach. The younger rapper continued to hit the older idol, while hot tears fell down his face.

 

“TELL ME YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT A DIFFERENT JIN! TELL ME HE'S OKAY!”

 

Yongguk tried to calm the distressed man. “Namjoon, let's talk—”

 

“HOW. DARE. YOU. JIN'S. NOT. DEAD. HE. WOULD. NEVER. LEAVE. WITHOUT. SAYING. GOODBYE.”

 

Ravi, Hakyeon, and Daehyun came and pulled Namjoon off of Yongguk, who was now bleeding profusely and being pulled away by Sanghyuk and Junhong. The BTS member struggled to get back to the downed idol. “WHERE IS HE!? ANSWER ME!”

 

Yongguk struggled to catch his breath, and looked up to see Seokjin walking towards his leader. The ghost knelt down and tried to touch the man's face. “He's right in front of you.” Namjoon broke away from the idols who held him down and launched himself through Jin to punch Yongguk again. The man was determined to beat the bloodied idol, thinking if only he punched a little harder, his missing friend would step out from where he was hidden.

 

“N-Namjoon, stop!” Seokjin cried, wishing the man could hear him. “Y-Yongguk has been so good to me, p-please get off of him!” The former idol cursed himself. If only Namjoon could see him and listen to everything he wanted to tell him, like that he was sorry for running into such a dangerous situation and how much he wanted to go back to the dorm with the leader and see the rest of the members again.

 

Hakyeon turned to the ghost. “Jin, what's one thing you about know Namjoon, that nobody else would know? We need to convince him that you're here.”

 

The former visual thought about that for a bit, then starting listing things that he knew were so personal, they would embarrass the younger idol. As Hakyeon repeated what Jin was telling him, Namjoon's attack slowed and Ravi and Daehyun were able to pull him away from Yongguk.

 

“—and then you ran to your computer to hide it, but Jin already saw it—”

 

“Enough,” Namjoon sobbed, going limp. “H-Hyung?”

 

Seokjin dropped to his knees in front of the fallen leader. “Yes?”

 

“He's right in front of you.”

 

The grieving man held his hand out, inches away from his lost member's face. “Seokjin-hyung, you...died?”

 

Hakyeon knelt down next to the former idol. “We don't know. His ghost has been here for a week, but we think there's a chance that something happened to make his soul separate from his body.”

 

The tearful rapper turned to the older leader. “W-What?”

 

Himchan and Taekwoon took Yongguk to the bathroom to patch him up, while Hakyeon calmly explained what had been going on for the last week, and guiding everyone back into the living room. By the end of his explanation, the BTS leader had his head in his hands, that were bruised, and he was apologizing profusely to everyone.

 

“I'm so sorry. I came over because I was hoping to ask you to help me look for Jin-hyung, and when I heard you say he was a ghost, I thought you had been keeping him from me.”

 

Jin snorted. “Death is the only thing that could separate me from you in this world, you idiot.”

 

Hakyeon told Namjoon what he said, which caused the exhausted BTS member to laugh. “I wish I could see you, or at least hug you. I've missed you so much, you have no idea...” Seokjin leaned forward, and wrapped his arms around Namjoon, but gasped as another memory hit him.

 

_He wandered down a hallway that felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite tell where he was because his vision was blurry. He continued on and went out of the front doors of a building. As he walked through the neighborhood, his vision cleared up. He looked down at his body and vacantly wondered why he was able to see through his legs._

 

“JIN!”

 

Seokjin gasped and sat up from the floor he had fallen onto.

 

“What's going on? Is he okay!?”

 

“Jin, can you hear me?”

 

The former idol shakily sat up and looked directly into Hakyeon's concerned eyes.

 

“My body. It's in the old BTS dorm.”

 

The dancer gasped and repeated what he said to everyone in the room, causing the other idols go into a flurry of activity.

 

The sound of a ringtone went off, and Namjoon took out his phone. “Yoongi—yes, I'm aware I've been gone for a while—but, look—Hyung, please—yes, I know. LISTEN! Tell our managers we found Jin-hyung and he's in our old dorm—yeah, that one. Then call the police, okay? Yeah...I'll meet you guys there.”

 

The leader of BTS went to put on his shoes, and everyone followed. Yongguk came back out, looking beaten up, but not so much so that he couldn't leave the dorm with everyone. The idols split up in three vehicles driven by Namjoon, Himchan, and Ken.

 

Night had fallen by the time everyone had arrived. There still weren't any lights on in the building, and quite a few of the idols were starting to have second thoughts about entering it.

 

“How about this, I'll wait out here with anyone who doesn't want to go in. And also, we'll be able to see if anyone tries to go in besides the police,” Hakyeon reasoned. While he had a reputation for being a scaredy cat, the dancer had a point. It was possible the killer was inside the building, and nobody wanted anyone to get hurt.

 

“I'm going in, so I can carry Jin-hyung out myself,” Namjoon said boldly.

 

“We want to go too. We're not going to leave him alone again,” Youngjae said, nodding at Jaehwan.

 

“Since I can see Seokjin, I should be coming too,” Yongguk stated.

 

After Himchan, Hongbin, Jongup, and Ravi also decided to come, the idols said their goodbyes and entered the building as quietly as possible. Namjoon led them through the first floor, and as all of the doors were open, they searched for the missing idol by the light of their phones. They repeated this process on the fourth floor, when Jongup frantically signaled for everyone to be quiet.

 

They heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming towards them in the hallway from the staircase. Were the police here already? No, that didn't make any sense, as the person was coming down the stairs, not up. Yongguk made eye contact with Namjoon in the dim light, and they knew they had both come to the same conclusion.  
  
“RUN!”

 

The BTS rapper led everyone down the other staircase at the opposite end of the hall.

  
BANG!

 

Everyone scattered, frightened by the sound of the gunshot. Yongguk, Seokjin, and Namjoon ended up together, as they hid in an apartment bathroom on the second floor.

  
“We need to get everyone out,” Yongguk whispered, while gasping for air.

 

“No, I'm not leaving without Jin-hyung!” Namjoon panted, and pulled out his phone to text Yoongi with shaking fingers. “We've got to find him.”

 

“I'm not worth your life!” Jin pleaded. “Please, just get out of here. This was such a stupid idea to come here by ourselves.”

 

The tattooed rapper looked at Jin. “You _are_ worth our lives. How about this, unless that guy can see ghosts, you should be able to find your body without him being able to stop you. Once you know where it is, tell either me or Hakyeon, okay?”

 

BANG!

 

The gunshot sounded faint, so they knew the gunman wasn't nearby. The ghost hugged the two rappers, fearing it would be the last time he would see them in this world, then took off. While the former idol was gone, the two leaders listened for the sounds of either the gunman or a police siren. They breathed out with relief when Jin came back. “I'm on the top floor, in the living room of the apartment right next to the staircase the guy was coming down.”

 

Yongguk leaned close to the former visual, “Where's the guy now? Did you run into anyone else?”

 

Jin shook his head. “Jaehwan was shot in the leg and Youngjae is trying to patch him up a few floors up. I didn't see the gunman, but Jongup got out and the other three are on the floor above us trying to get out fire escape.”

 

B.A.P's leader relayed the information to the other leader, who nodded. “Okay, then let's go.”

 

Jin was a few feet ahead of them, quickly checking to make sure the gunman wasn't waiting to attack them. They breathed a collective sigh of relief when they got to the staircase with no problems.

 

BANG!

 

Namjoon, Seokjin, and Yongguk jumped and turned around to see a large figure aiming at them. They ran for the staircase, hearing the man several feet behind them. Luckily for the two leaders, being an idol required to attend dance practice and go to the gym so much gave them more stamina than what the gunman clearly had. While the person still had a gun, they were fast and the dark made it difficult for him to get a good shot at them.

 

They were nearly on the top floor, when Yongguk felt a bullet graze his arm. He cried out in pain and his ears were ringing, but he refused to stop. They went through the apartment door and were surprised to see red and blue lights coming through the windows. The sounds of sirens from police cars screamed below.

 

BANG!

 

The idols jumped, fearing the armed man had managed to make his way up, but instead it was they heard multiple policemen making their way into the building and up the staircase. They heard the man curse loudly, as gunfire being exchanged was heard.

 

Namjoon was shaking in fear, but still grabbed Yongguk's hand and led him to the apartment where Jin's body was. “Let's grab him, then get out.”

 

It was odd to enter an empty apartment. Although Namjoon knew the layout because it was similar to his old dorm, it still felt like there was something wrong with the place. He stopped when Yongguk put a hand on his shoulder and pointed.

 

Against a wall in a living room, a body was slumped over. Yongguk lifted his phone to see it better. The bruises on his face and around his neck were fading. His hair was a mess and his eyelids were closed and looked bruised. He was wearing the same white shirt and dark jeans he had worn the day he had disappeared, that had flecks of blood on them that had trailed down from his hair. His nails were chipped, and his wrists and ankles were bound together with rope.

 

“Jin...” Namjoon whispered, touching the idol's face.

 

“Step away from him,” a voice snarled. Yongguk turned his phone and saw a man standing there with a gun pointed at Namjoon. He was middle aged and balding, with five o'clock shadow and blood from a bullet wounds coming out of his shoulder and leg. So this was the man who had flipped so many lives.

 

Without thinking, Yongguk tackled the man and brought him down.

 

BANG!

 

Namjoon leaped onto Seokjin's body and covered it with his own, as the sound of footsteps pounded into the apartment. Light filled the room and everything was so loud and confusing. The rapper moved his hand and tried to feel for a pulse. “Hyung, please stay. Please, wake up.”

 

People went through Jin, but he could only focus on his leader. He saw the man trying to see if he was alive, and was touched by the words he spoke. The idol fell to his knees and moved to Namjoon's side. “I don't have any plans to leave.”

 

Seokjin entered his lifeless body and knew no more.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long to update. This was supposed to be the last chapter, but it ended up being twice as long as I was expecting, so I decided to split it and post the first part now. I'll try to finish the last part within the next few days.

**Author's Note:**

> I don't usually write stuff in the mystery genre, so I figured I'd make a fic for practice that should be finished by the end of next week. Please let me know if I'm going in the right direction, because I'm still new at this.


End file.
